Search

The south-eastern Black Sea area is a key region for understanding the history of iron metallurgy. While Classical texts mention the people living in this area as producers, and perhaps even inventors, of iron, material evidence has been lacking. Recent archaeological survey and scientific analyses now make it possible to investigate iron technologies in the region during the mid to late first millennium BC and the medieval period, providing new insights into the metallurgical tradition that inspired such admiration in the Graeco-Roman world. These results have implications for the smelting of iron in liquid state, although it remains unclear where and when this technology first appeared in Western Eurasia. Keywords: Black Sea, Chalybes, Colchis, metallurgy, iron smelting, slags, SEM-EDS, Introduction The eastern and southern coasts of the Black Sea have, in more than one sense, mythical status in the history of iron metallurgy, featuring prominently in the Graeco-Roman mythical [...]